Task-oriented leadership style on students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools in Nyeri county, Kenya

Introduction: The concept of school leadership has attracted the attention of many stakeholders in education sector. Students’ academic achievement is greatly determined by the decisions made by the school governance. The leadership style used by leaders influences the decision making process, communication process and implementation of decisions made. Purpose: The study sought to find out the extent to which task-oriented leadership style used by school heads in public secondary schools in Nyeri Central Sub-County affects students’ academic achievement. Methodology: The study used descriptive research design to obtain accurate information concerning the current existing phenomena. The sample consisted 590 statistically sampled using Krejcie’s and Morgan’s table of sampling. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and interview schedules. After pilot study, the researcher checked validity and reliability of the tools. The reliability value of the tool was 0.8. To enhance consistency of the tool, test-retest reliability technique was used and yielded a coefficient of 0.76. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationship between task-oriented leadership style and students’ academic achievement. Results: The study found that principals who practiced task-oriented leadership style posted high mean mark in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). The study also revealed that majority of principals practiced relationship-oriented leadership style hence, it was the most prevalent leadership style in Nyeri Central Sub-County. The study found a strong positive correlation between task-oriented leadership style and students’ achievement. Recommendations: It is recommended that principals’ should incorporate different leadership styles depending on the situation at hand to promote high students achievement.